NGD (sorta) & Changing 58/15LT out for 58/15MT

[MWebster]

Hello all and welcome

I've grabbed a brand new PRS Special 22 Semi-Hollow that's on it's way to me. I made a post a few weeks ago regarding my experience 2020 MEV, the ad for that guitar was fraudulent, a huge headache and I've since had my $$ returned to me and rolled that into this special. I still plan to obtain a MEV when the time is right. Surprised me that this kind of stuff is happening on Reverb and I didn't find the ad suspicious either.

Anyway I've read many of you advocating the earlier ltd. run which had the 58/15MT pickups. This guitar comes with the 58/15 LT set. I'll try them out and put them through their paces BUT the praise being almost unanimous here I bought an MT set, the ad shows the neck reading 8.15k and the bridge reading 9.19k so a little hotter than the LT's which were both around 7.8 ish, kept reading about the bridge being pretty weak, I like the bridge to have higher output than the neck.

If I love the LT's in the special I will either sell these MT's or pop 'em into one of my SE's. They're new pickups that had the metal cover removed and the wax cleaned off the top but the fellow is including the covers.

My question is does anyone have any insight into changing these in this guitar or something similar, do I just solder two wires together on the MT set and install to the same terminals as the LT? I have read the 58/15MT is more of a 4 wire setup where as the LT is a braided wire with a white and black. Any insights are appreciated. I want the wiring, switching, everything to be the same I'm not looking to mod it or anything, I'd like the guitar to work the exact same way just with these MT's.

Also I thought you'd want to see, 10-top faded whale blue

 

[MWebster]

 

[MWebster]

Also as an aside, I feel like PRS's product lineup releases so far this year have been nuts. SE DGT, SE 594, S2's with core electronics, MEV core model. Things people actually care about! I think it'll be a good year for PRS.

 

[ViggoP]

Hello all and welcome

I've grabbed a brand new PRS Special 22 Semi-Hollow that's on it's way to me. I made a post a few weeks ago regarding my experience 2020 MEV, the ad for that guitar was fraudulent, a huge headache and I've since had my $$ returned to me and rolled that into this special. I still plan to obtain a MEV when the time is right. Surprised me that this kind of stuff is happening on Reverb and I didn't find the ad suspicious either.

Anyway I've read many of you advocating the earlier ltd. run which had the 58/15MT pickups. This guitar comes with the 58/15 LT set. I'll try them out and put them through their paces BUT the praise being almost unanimous here I bought an MT set, the ad shows the neck reading 8.15k and the bridge reading 9.19k so a little hotter than the LT's which were both around 7.8 ish, kept reading about the bridge being pretty weak, I like the bridge to have higher output than the neck.

If I love the LT's in the special I will either sell these MT's or pop 'em into one of my SE's. They're new pickups that had the metal cover removed and the wax cleaned off the top but the fellow is including the covers.

My question is does anyone have any insight into changing these in this guitar or something similar, do I just solder two wires together on the MT set and install to the same terminals as the LT? I have read the 58/15MT is more of a 4 wire setup where as the LT is a braided wire with a white and black. Any insights are appreciated. I want the wiring, switching, everything to be the same I'm not looking to mod it or anything, I'd like the guitar to work the exact same way just with these MT's.

Also I thought you'd want to see, 10-top faded whale blue

Very nice! The hybrid hardware goes great with the blue and the brownish rosewood, very classy. And while the MEV is an incredible guitar, I like my SSH a tiny bit more so you might be better off, who knows?
I've never played the 58/15LT's so I can't compare, all I know is that the MT's are a truly great set of pickups. Regarding the wiring, I think you could try to reach out to PRS/PTC for a wiring diagram.

 

[bodia]

Fantastic guitar! Congrats!

 

[MWebster]

Very nice! The hybrid hardware goes great with the blue and brownish rosewood, very classy. And while the MEV is an incredible guitar, I like my SSH a tiny bit more so you might be better off, who knows?
I've never played the 58/15LT's so I can't compare, all I know is that the MT's are a truly great set of pickups. Regarding the wiring, I think you could try to reach out to PRS/PTC for a wiring diagram.

What do you like more about the SSH?

When the deal for the MEV fell through I kept reading. Came across these and did not expect to be buying a semi-hollow but here we are. Pretty similar versatility and switching I found so why not try it.

 

[ViggoP]

What do you like more about the SSH?

When the deal for the MEV fell through I kept reading. Came across these and did not expect to be buying a semi-hollow but here we are. Pretty similar versatility and switching I found so why not try it.

Well, it just feels alive and responds to input in a very special way I guess. It sounds great however you play it. It's rich and lush clean, very resonant. It takes even substantial amounts of gain without feedback issues (maybe a tiny bit more than my solids if it's loud enough but not like a 335 or something) and sounds great doing even that. The coil taps sound as good as the full humbuckers (which no other guitar has been even close to, I usually don't care for coil taps/splits). The middle pickup is really cool and the second and fourth position has got a very nice quack to them. All the pickup settings are very balanced, both volume and frequency wise. And the middle pickup is radiused so it doesn't get in the way too much when picking. It's lightweight. I think it looks great. It can really do anything. There's a lot to like.

 

[SinSir]

Killer score! Congrats! You made a very wise choice. I personally love my LTs but if you decide to sell the MT spares I call dibs!

 

[MWebster]

Well, it just feels alive and responds to input in a very special way I guess. It sounds great however you play it. It's rich and lush clean, very resonant. It takes even substantial amounts of gain without feedback issues (maybe a tiny bit more than my solids if it's loud enough but not like a 335 or something) and sounds great doing even that. The coil taps sound as good as the full humbuckers (which no other guitar has been even close to, I usually don't care for coil taps/splits). The middle pickup is really cool and the second and fourth position has got a very nice quack to them. All the pickup settings are very balanced, both volume and frequency wise. And the middle pickup is radiused so it doesn't get in the way too much when picking. It's lightweight. I think it looks great. It can really do anything. There's a lot to like.

Thanks that's a ton of great insight. I think you've got a lot of ground covered having a SSH and a MEV. Versatility was the name of the game here but there is something really lovely about a semi hollow. From your experience with both, how different is the MEV? If you don't mind. Also on your SSH is the neck pickup oriented the same was as mine in the photos or reversed?

 

[andy474x]

Wow, what a beauty! That top with that finish is insane! Make sure you keep it in the case - blue can fade with UV exposure, and it'd be a shame to see that one fade.

The beauty of the MT's is the single coil sounds - I can't say I have a preference for one or the other when it comes to the humbucker sounds of the MT's vs LT's, but the single coil sounds of the MT's are the best of any PRS I've used, which all the rest I own are the more traditional split rather than tapped like the MT's. The MT's are very authentic to a real single coil, I've never loved the sound of a traditional split humbucker, even in a PRS which does it better than most. I use them on occasion, but I'm more likely to be found loving the humbucker for what it is and making the best of it - other than on the SSH, of course.

I do wonder if PRS quietly slipped the tapped functionality into the LT's in the SSH, but I haven't tried one to see for myself. If you like the split sounds of the LT's, I'd save the MT's for another guitar - or sell them to me!

If you do end up wanting to put them in, I'm sure myself or another member here would be happy to take some gut shots of the wiring of an MT loaded SSH.

 

[MWebster]

Killer score! Congrats! You made a very wise choice. I personally love my LTs but if you decide to sell the MT spares I call dibs!

Hey thank you. I figured it wouldn't be a bad idea buying them, I only see LT sets up for sale so these probably wouldn't be a hard sell. PRS is definitely hitching it's wagon to the LT set right now. What do you like about them? I grabbed the MT's mostly because I'm more of a med/high gain player.

 

[MWebster]

Wow, what a beauty! That top with that finish is insane! Make sure you keep it in the case - blue can fade with UV exposure, and it'd be a shame to see that one fade.

The beauty of the MT's is the single coil sounds - I can't say I have a preference for one or the other when it comes to the humbucker sounds of the MT's vs LT's, but the single coil sounds of the MT's are the best of any PRS I've used, which all the rest I own are the more traditional split rather than tapped like the MT's. The MT's are very authentic to a real single coil, I've never loved the sound of a traditional split humbucker, even in a PRS which does it better than most. I use them on occasion, but I'm more likely to be found loving the humbucker for what it is and making the best of it - other than on the SSH, of course.

I do wonder if PRS quietly slipped the tapped functionality into the LT's in the SSH, but I haven't tried one to see for myself. If you like the split sounds of the LT's, I'd save the MT's for another guitar - or sell them to me!

If you do end up wanting to put them in, I'm sure myself or another member here would be happy to take some gut shots of the wiring of an MT loaded SSH.

I've read that blue fades really bad on these. I have an empty PRS floating stand set up for this guy which is angled away from the window and I often don't open the blinds anyway. If it starts fading I'll just keep it in the case.

I'd definitely like this thread to be a resource for others at this crossroads because I didn't find a thread delving into this too much so if you'd post a few pics I would greatly appreciate that, sorta displaying whats soldered where I'll compare that with what I have when the guitar arrives and post pics as a step by step for anyone in the future.

See, yeah, they now have TCI versions of the LT's. This guitar, despite being a 2022, was not advertised as having the TCI versions but I wonder if it is and it's just not advertised that way? Like when they updated these pickups as a whole, perhaps they changed it to more of a tap like the MT and less of a split. You could be on to something.

 

[SinSir]

Hey thank you. I figured it wouldn't be a bad idea buying them, I only see LT sets up for sale so these probably wouldn't be a hard sell. PRS is definitely hitching it's wagon to the LT set right now. What do you like about them? I grabbed the MT's mostly because I'm more of a med/high gain player.

Welcome. You're right, the MT don't come up often and with the recent drop, LT are everywhere. I personally really like the LT and don't have a bad thing to say about them. They are more on the vintage PAF side of things. Very responsive to tone and vol knob adjustment and the neck sounds fantastic split.

 

[dmatthews]

Super fine find, congrats!

 

[Broseph]

Are MT’s the same as TMs with more wiring options? Or are the MTs designed to avoid volume loss when tapped?

 

[MWebster]

Are MT’s the same as TMs with more wiring options? Or are the MTs designed to avoid volume loss when tapped?

They are higher output pickups and yes that's right, they split with a very convincing single coil tone. Mind you, the new LT's may have adopted this design. I actually sent PRS an email asking for wiring info on both pickups and if they've changed the newer LT design towards more of a tap rather than split. I'll post what they tell me.

 

[ViggoP]

Are MT’s the same as TMs with more wiring options? Or are the MTs designed to avoid volume loss when tapped?

I have a set of the TM’s too. They’re currently in a drawer but used to be in a WL Cu24. So a different guitar but I found them very different to the MT’s. I didn’t love them to be honest. They were pretty bright sounding, which the MT’s are too, but thinner and a little anemic compared to the MT’s and most of my other guitars. To be fair, the guitar they were in is a bright guitar (maple neck, ziricote fretboard, korina body, maple top) so that will of course influence how the pickups sound and it probably wasn't the best match. But still, they don’t actually sound very similar to the MT’s. I put \m/’s in that guitar instead.

Edit: And to answer your second question; the volume drop of the MT’s when tapped is slight but noticable, though not detrimental to the sound. Mostly it just changes the character of the sound to a different but equally nice flavor.

 

[Greywolf]

Congrats , the Special is an awesome axe. As mine is a maple neck its LT's are spot on single when tapped .

 

[watelessness]

i have MT's in my SSH and LOVE them. LT's in my 594 and it took me a while to accept them for what they do.

 

[ViggoP]

Thanks that's a ton of great insight. I think you've got a lot of ground covered having a SSH and a MEV. Versatility was the name of the game here but there is something really lovely about a semi hollow. From your experience with both, how different is the MEV? If you don't mind. Also on your SSH is the neck pickup oriented the same was as mine in the photos or reversed?

The MEV does the same thing in a different way I guess. It’s more hifi. The pickups are extremely clear sounding, it’s like the guitar pickup equivalent of 4k resolution. The placement of the middle pickup is really nice if you’re a heavy picker (like I am), it doesn’t get in the way. I really like how they sound in full humbucker mode. They are fast, they respond immediately. They’re actually great for high gain tones. I’m not as crazy about the split tones. You can make them sound really good if you set your amp up for them but that comes at the cost of the full humbuckers not sounding as good and vice versa. There’s a noticable drop in volume, which is to be expected when splitting to full single coil. I guess it does the humbucker split thing better than most but not as good as the SSH limited IMO.
Mine is an 2020 Experience edition and it’s by far my most beautiful guitar. The wood selection is amazing. Every piece of wood in it is perfect (to me). It sounds absolutely huge acoustically, it’s the loudest solid body electric I own and the sound is beautiful. It really rings. I made a NGD thread about it if you wanna check it out.